All of the world's biggest passenger aircraft are to have their wings checked after dozens of hairline cracks were discovered in a Qantas Airways plane.

The Australian airline said it temporarily grounded one of its A380 superjumbos - made by Airbus - after discovering 36 tiny cracks inside its wings during a maintenance inspection.

This morning the European Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA) is believed to have ordered all 68 Airbus A380s currently in operation to have their wings checked.

Airbus said the cracks in the UK-built wings pose no threat to safety.

Discovery: Qantas discovered the wing cracks in the A380 after the compnay ordered a complete aircraft inspection following an engine blowout

The 36 small 'type one' cracks were found during routine checks on the A380 at Sydney's main airport on Monday.

The aircraft, which can carry up to 800 passengers, is expected to be back up and running in a week.

This particular plane was checked for cracks at the request of Airbus after it flew through severe turbulence on a flight between London and Singapore.

Scrutiny: Airbus' new A380 superjumbo has come under fire again, after Singapore Airlines had to shut down an engine and return a flight to Singapore yesterday

First class travel: Inside the A380's first class cabins. It is the latest safety incident to hit the world's biggest passenger plane, which cost a staggering £250million each

Stretching out: There are just fourteen berths in the first class section of each A380. The plane can seat up to 853 passengers

BEHEMOTH OF THE SKIES

Wingspan: 261ft 8in

Length: 239ft 4in

Height: 79ft 7in

Maximum capacity: 853 *

Cost: £156million

Maximum speed: 647mph

Maximum weight: 560 tonnes

Fuel capacity: 68,188 gallons

Fuel capacity: 0.145 mpg

Range: 9,200 miles

Internal wiring: 300 miles

* If all seats are in economy class configuration

The minor cracks - no more than two
centimetres long - were discovered on some of the wing rib brackets and were caused by a manufacturing issue and not the turbulence, Qantas
said.

The Australian flag carrier said in a statement:
'This cracking is not related to the turbulence, or specific to Qantas,
but is traced back to a manufacturing issue,' adding that Airbus had
confirmed the cracks had no effect on flight safety.

The cracks are similar to those manufacturing defects which were found on the wing ribs of a Qantas plane damaged followingthe
disintegration of an engine in midflight in 2010.

They are however different to
the 'type two' cracking found on two A380s recently, which led to 20
of the planes being checked following orders from the EASA.

At the time, Australian aircraft engineers called for the planes to be grounded with Steve
Purvinas, secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers
Association, saying: 'We can't continue to gamble with people's lives
and allow those aircraft
to fly around and hope that they make it until their four-yearly
inspection'.

The A380 aircraft are in use by Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Air France, Lufthansa, Korean Airlines and China Southern.

The planes have been in service for five
years. In
total, 238 of the aircraft have been ordered by 17 airlines worldwide.

The aircraft are assembled in Toulouse, but parts are built across Europe, with the wings being built in Broughton, Wales.

Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic
Defence & Space Co., declined to comment on the decision to broaden
wing inspections. A spokesman for the European Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA) was not immediately available to comment.

Philippa Oldham, Head of Transport at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said in response to EASA’s decision to order Airbus to inspect all A380s for wing cracks :

'It is welcome that the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is calling for checks on all Airbus A380 as safety has to be the biggest priority for all airlines.

'It is important to note that these cracks are very small and will be monitored by the airlines. They are unlikely to affect aircraft operation.

'Airlines approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) have very strict regulations and require there to be rigorous inspection procedures so an aircraft would not be allowed to fly unless it was deemed to be fully airworthy by the authority or their delegates.'

British Airways is due to take delivery of 12 A380s next year, while the first of Virgin's eight superjumbos will arrive in 2015.

Singapore Airlines, one of the carriers that operates A380s in and out of Heathrow airport, was the first airline to take delivery of a superjumbo, with the debut passenger flight taking place in October 2007.

Superjumbo services to Heathrow began in March 2008, with Manchester airport services starting in September 2010.